[feverfive]

Upon reflection, maybe this charge was initiated by my bank for some reason and not Vinshine, though they were the payee. TBH, I don't know but was upset at the time, especially since there are times that an unexpected $30 charge could overdraw my checking account, though luckily not that time..

~2.8% is what my bank charges for currency conversion, and yes, it shows as a later, separate transaction apart from the Paypal purchase. Depends on one's bank...and of course, Paypal gets to wet their beak as well. It's just the way of present international consumer transactions.

 

[Leonarfd]

About to buy the Ares 12th-1
How anyone measured the delay when running USB?

 

[Leonarfd]

Ended up ordering the 12th-1, loving it so far.

 

[Matchi]

Ended up ordering the 12th-1, loving it so far.

I'm jelly

Fits nicely into your setup too

 

[aggielaw]

I apologize if I missed this in my thread search, but in setting up my Ares 12-1 tonight I happened upon paragraph 3.4 of the manual, which seems to indicate that in OS mode the DAC upsamples PCM 44.1KHz and PCM 48KHz signals to to PCM 1411.2 or PCM1536 automatically. Unless I just missed the instructions, it appears there is no way to stop this upsampling. I would like for the DAC not to upsample, and instead have roon or HQPlayer do any upsampling I might desire.

In experimenting with the DAC briefly, the front LEDs did not indicate upsampling when USB was the input, but it did indicate upsampling when I2S was the input. With I2S as the input, the music always sounds out of phase. Actually, worse than out of phase - the sound isn't merely "fuzzy," there's a void in the center of the stage. Sound comes from the left and the right, but nothing is centered. This is fixed with the USB input.

I'm using a Sonore ultraDigital DDC rather than a Denafrips DDC because I already owned the Sonore. I checked the ultraDigital switches to ensure they are set for the Denafrips pinout, which happens to be the default pinout for the ultraDigital. Given the reports almost universally state Ares models sound better through the I2S input than the USB, I'm left to wonder if the default I2S pinout on the Ares 12-1 is not Denafrips' "normal" pinout. Does anyone here have any troubleshooting advice for me besides trying each pinout setting on the Ares 12-1?

Many thanks for your help, both on the upsampling issue and the I2S "center void" issue!

 

[punknotyet]

Noob question: is it OK to keep both XLR and RCA outputs of ARES 12th-I plugged to different devices, in case if I turn on and use only 1 of these devices at a time?
For example, may I connect headphone amp via XLR + active speakers via RCA, if I will use only one thing (either headphone amp + headphones, or speakers) at a time,
i.e. before using headphones I will turn off speakers and vice versa?

Manual says following: "The RCA and XLR output are shared, please use either of the output at a time. It is not recommended to use both RCA and XLR output simultaneously.".
But it's not clear to me what exactly "to use" means here - if both outputs are connected to different devices, but only 1 device is turned on and is actually used for listening, does it mean that both outputs are used?

 

[sajunky]

Manual says following: "The RCA and XLR output are shared, please use either of the output at a time. It is not recommended to use both RCA and XLR output simultaneously.".

Can not be connected (plugged) in the same time. Even if you power the other amp off, no matter.

 

[sygnus21]

Noob question: is it OK to keep both XLR and RCA outputs of ARES 12th-I plugged to different devices, in case if I turn on and use only 1 of these devices at a time?
For example, may I connect headphone amp via XLR + active speakers via RCA, if I will use only one thing (either headphone amp + headphones, or speakers) at a time,
i.e. before using headphones I will turn off speakers and vice versa?

Manual says following: "The RCA and XLR output are shared, please use either of the output at a time. It is not recommended to use both RCA and XLR output simultaneously.".
But it's not clear to me what exactly "to use" means here - if both outputs are connected to different devices, but only 1 device is turned on and is actually used for listening, does it mean that both outputs are used?

The instructions are clear - use only one output - either XLR or RCA. As said, the outputs are shared, and probably will result in a lower sound output.

That said, there's nothing from stopping you from trying it, and learning for yourself. I have a Pontus and thought the same - XLR outs to headphone amp, RCA to Active speakers; but I was reminded of that warning by Alvin - those are shared outs.

In the end, I just used the XLR out to my headphone amp and ran my active speakers off another DAC. But that's my setup with the gear I have.

As a side note, I do think it sucks they designed the DAC that way - shared outs, but I guess in the pursuit of clean sound, some things had to be sacrificed.

Good luck.

 

[dexterwinter]

There is definitely a degradation of the RCA outputs when both are connected when I tried this. It is less noticeable with the XLR connection.

 

[poli]

I apologize if I missed this in my thread search, but in setting up my Ares 12-1 tonight I happened upon paragraph 3.4 of the manual, which seems to indicate that in OS mode the DAC upsamples PCM 44.1KHz and PCM 48KHz signals to to PCM 1411.2 or PCM1536 automatically. Unless I just missed the instructions, it appears there is no way to stop this upsampling. I would like for the DAC not to upsample, and instead have roon or HQPlayer do any upsampling I might desire.

In experimenting with the DAC briefly, the front LEDs did not indicate upsampling when USB was the input, but it did indicate upsampling when I2S was the input. With I2S as the input, the music always sounds out of phase. Actually, worse than out of phase - the sound isn't merely "fuzzy," there's a void in the center of the stage. Sound comes from the left and the right, but nothing is centered. This is fixed with the USB input.

I'm using a Sonore ultraDigital DDC rather than a Denafrips DDC because I already owned the Sonore. I checked the ultraDigital switches to ensure they are set for the Denafrips pinout, which happens to be the default pinout for the ultraDigital. Given the reports almost universally state Ares models sound better through the I2S input than the USB, I'm left to wonder if the default I2S pinout on the Ares 12-1 is not Denafrips' "normal" pinout. Does anyone here have any troubleshooting advice for me besides trying each pinout setting on the Ares 12-1?

Many thanks for your help, both on the upsampling issue and the I2S "center void" issue!

Did you follow the setup instructions for using I2S input? It is explained on Denafrips' website.